Actually, they aren't the same. Pastry flour has a much lower gluten content than regular red or white hard wheat. It's great for muffins, scones, cakes, that sort of thing. Hard white wheat DOES have a lighter flavor than red, though.

It's my understanding that *HARD* wheat, whether it be white or red, is for breads. Whereas, *SOFT* wheat is for cakes, cookies, quick breads and pastries.

HOWEVER, I usually use hard for cookies and quick breads with success. Things that need to be light and fluffy like pastries and cakes work better with soft wheat. Really the only reason I do that is because I buy my hard wheat in 50lb bags of berries so I have an abundance. I buy soft wheat in much smaller quantities.
To some degree, it just comes down to preference and what works for you.